Mari D. Terman, 1935-2013

Mari D. Terman, a longtime hospital administrator who was active with the League of Women Voters, successfully ran for a seat on the Wilmette Village Board when she was 69 because she thought the body was too conservative.

"She felt a more liberal perspective was needed on the council," said her husband of 53 years, David. "She became the voice of common sense in how to move the village forward in a thoughtful, practical way."

Mrs. Terman, 77, who was on Wilmette's board from 2005 to 2011 and then briefly was a member of the North Shore suburb's fire and police commission, died Wednesday, Jan. 16, at her Wilmette home, following a struggle with melanoma.

Known for her progressive voice, Mrs. Terman offered a woman's perspective and encouraged dialogue on all issues, former colleagues said.

"Mari's intellectual curiosity, hard work and above all wisdom flowed from her unfailing conviction that we could ... solve the challenges confronting our village," said Wilmette Village President Chris Canning in a eulogy at a memorial service for Mrs. Terman. "To do so, she used her infectious enthusiasm and towering intellect to point us toward a plan."

Mrs. Terman had a hand in the decorative monuments at the entrance to the village along Sheridan Road.

"Those monuments, the gateways to Wilmette, were designed by Mari — right down to the shape of the leaves, the tree, the colors and the size," Canning said in his eulogy.

The former Mari DeCosta grew up in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Radcliffe College and received an MBA from Northwestern University. In the early 1980s, she began working at what is now Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, retiring in 2003 as head of the departments of utilization review and admitting.

In 2010, Mrs. Terman helped launch North Shore Village, a nonprofit group that provides support for seniors in Evanston, Skokie and Wilmette who want to stay in their homes. She was a founding board member of the organization.

"Mari was a guiding force within our organization on nearly every issue we tackled, from its concept to the operational stage," said Helen Gagel, executive director of North Shore Village. "She gave of her time freely and was a very good arm-twister when it came to getting others involved as well."

The organization relies heavily on volunteers, and Mrs. Terman was also involved on that end.

"She was a volunteer driver for the elderly, one of the most essential needs for those who can no longer drive, but still want to maintain their independence," Gagel said. "With grace and ease that left me in awe, Mari could shift gears from a bylaws discussion to a passionate discourse on how much it matters that people should be empowered to make their own choices about how and where they age."

After retiring from the Village Board in 2011, Mrs. Terman was appointed by Canning to the village's fire and police commission, where she served until this past summer.

"She loved getting into the details of any project," her husband said. "Researching was her strong suit. She'd bring home piles of papers and books to learn everything she could on a subject."

Mrs. Terman made several trips with her husband to Europe, as well as the Middle East. She was a docent and on the visiting committee for the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.

"She had a love of archaeology, and her hope was to someday go on a dig," her husband said. "She was always looking forward to her next new experience."

Mrs. Terman is also survived by two sons, Mark and Eric; a daughter, Anne Wedner; a brother, John DeCosta; a sister, Louise Wides; and six grandchildren.